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o. D. WILLIS MAIL MARKINGTr MACHINE WIT/VESSES INI/mmm A TTRNEYSPatented Mar. 25, 1924.

UNITED STTES OSCAR'DELLMONT VILLIS, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRG-INTA.A

MAIL-MARKING *MACHINE Application filed November 9, 1922. Serial No.599,879.

To lall whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR D. WILLIS,v a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Huntington, in the county of Cabell and State ofl/Vest Virginia, have invented new and useful mprovements inMail-Marking Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to mail marking machines,

The general object of the invention isthe provision of a simple andefiicientmachine for canceling stamps on articles of mail.

An important feature of this invention is the provision of means foradjusting the feed controlling means so that the articles of mail arefed to the printing member at such an instant in its revolution that itwill mark any predetermined portion of the article of mail.

This object is accomplished by providing f to be marked onto the feedbelt, and asso-4 ciating with the feed belt spacing means forpositioning and spacing the articles to be marked so that they reach theprinting member at a predetermined time in its revolution. This andother` objects of the invention will be more clearly understood from thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is section along the line 1--1, Figure 3;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the mail marking machine; l

Figure 3 is a cross section along the line 3 3, Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the means provided for operating thespacing members from the printing member; l

Figure 5 is a cross section of the printing member and a portion ofthedrum and feed.l

belt. Y

Referring to the above-mentioned drawings, this invention includesl aframe 10 in which two drums 1'1 and 12 "carried by shafts 13 and 14,respectively, are rotatably mounted. A crank 56 is mounted on the shaft13 for operating it. Two endless belts-15 are mountedon the drums 11 and12. Two eyebolts 16 carried by the frame 10 are provided for adjustingthe position of the shaft 14 relative to the shaft 13 to tension .thebelts 15. A plurality `of bearings 17 are slidably mounted in slots 18cut in the side walls of the frame 10 and are supported in the upper end0f the slot by springs 19. Rollers 2O are carried by trunnions 21rotatably mountedmeans of the springs 26. A printing member including aroller 22 provided with trunnions 24 and a plate 28 attached to theroller is rotatably carried by the bearings 27. AA

roller 23 is rotatably mounted in the frame 1 0 above the belts 15. Thisroller is positionecll in alinement with one of the rollers t 20 whichserves to project the belts 15 upward toward` the roller 23. Two endlessbelts 29 are mounted on the rollers 22 and 23 and are positioneddirectly above the belts 15. From the above it will be seen that meansare provided for projecting the belts 15 and 29 into engagement so thatone maybe driven one from the other.`

, A hopper 30 is mounted on the frame 10 above the belts 15 and is sopositioned as to be Vdirectly above two of the rollers20, as shown inFigure 1. The front lower edge 32 of the hopper 30 is spaced from thebelts 15 when they are in their normal positions a sufficient distanceto allow one of the articles of mail to be projected forward by theBearings 27 are slidably mounted inv 'the slots and are retained inposition by belts as they move. A shaft 33 is rotatably Y mounted in theframe 10 and has fixed thereto by means of set screws 52 three arms 34.These arms 34 carry a rod 35 on which a plurality of spacingmembers 36are` loosely mounted. These spacing members 36 depend from the rod andextend between the' belts 15. An arm 37 is iiXed to the shaft 33 andcarries a pin 38 which moves in an arcshaped slot 39 cut in the sidewall of the frame 10. This pin 38 and arm 37 serve to limit the movementof the arms 34 and the spacing members 36. Loosely mounted on the shaft33 are two depending plates 40. One end of an adjustable pitman rod 41is pivotally yconnected by means of a pin 42 to the plates 40. A dog 43is fixed to the shaft 33 by means of a set screw 44 and depends betweenthe plates-40. A pawl 45 is pivoted tothe pitman rod 41 at 46 andlocated in alinement with the dog 43 so that, as the pitman rodope-rates, the pawl will periodically engage the dog. Carried by the pitman rod 41 is a spring 47 which retains the pawl 45 in the normalposition shown in Fig. 4 or serves to return it to that position when ithas been rotated about its pivot point 46. An arm 48 is fixed to one ofthe trunnions 24, carrying the roller 22, by means of the set screw 49.One end of the pitman rod is loosely connected to a pin 50 carried bythe arm 4,8. A spring 51 is mounted on the shaft 33, the outer end beingattached to the frame 10 while the inner end engages one of the arms 34.

lVhen the machine is to be used for canceling stamps on letters theplate 28 on the printing member is pro-vided with a number of bars 54for canceling the stamp and a die 55 for dating the letter. ln orderthat this plate may be inked for marking the letter an inking roller 53is rotatably mounted in the frame .adjacent the plate 28.

' In the operation of this device, the letters or articles of mail 31are placed inthe hopper 30. The drum 13 is then operated by means of thecrank 56 moving the belts 15 in the direction indicated by the arrowsyin Figure 1. The Vbelts 15 are forced upward by the rollers 2O intoengagement with the belts 29 so that as the belts 15 move they drive thebelts 29 and 'through these latter belts the roller 22. The beltfrictio-nally engages thelower article of mail in the hopper 30 andcarries it forward, projecting it' against the spacing members 36. Asthe roller 22 is revolved it operates the adjustable pitman rod 41through the arm 48. The pitman rod is given a reciprocatingmotion,moving back and forth with the plates 40. The pawl 45 carried bythe pitman rod 41 engages the dog 43 las the pitman rod moves to theright, as viewed in Figure 4. This rotates the shaft 33, raising thearms 34 and the spacing members 36. After the pitman rod has traveled acertain distance thev dog 43 is released from the pawl 45 and slides onthe upper face of the pawl. As the pitman rod moves to the `left the dogslides on the pawl, pressing one end downward. After the pawl 45 hasbeen released from the `dog 43 it is returned to its normal positiontioned on their respective shafts and the pitman rod 41 so adjusted thatthe spacing members 36 will be raised at the proper instant to allow thelowermost article of mail 31 tomove forward on the belt so as to reachthe roller 22 at the proper instant to cause theplate 28 to engage theportion of the ar- A spring Y -lowed to pass along the belt at theproper instant to allow it to engage the roller22 at a predeterminedinstant inl its revolution. The spring supported rollers 2O are providedfor allowing the belts l5 a certain amount of movement during theoperation Y of the machine to accommodate articles of mail of varyingthickness. The spring controlled roller 22 is also provided for thepurypose mentioned in the previous sentence.

The machinev shown in the drawings is provided with a crank 56 so thatit may be manually operated. This crank might be removed and a pulleysubstituted so that the machine couldbe operated vby any prime mover. n

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examplekconstitutes a practical embodiment of my invention I do not limitmyself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated since manifestlythe same can be considerably varied without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as deli-ned in'. the appended claims.

Claims:

1. In a machine of the character described for canceling' stamps, adrum, an endless belt operated by said drum, a printing member, anendlessA belt for operating the printing member andrdriven byengagementV with the first endless belt, spacing means for controllingthe feeding of the letters on to said endless belt so that the lettersreach the printing member `at a predetermined instant in its revolution,.and means for operating the spacing means from the printing member.

2. ln a machine of the character described, a hopper for feedingarticles to be marked, an endless belt mounted under said hopper, a drumfor driving said belt, a printing member, means associated with saidprinting member for forcing it in the direction of said drum so that vitvis driven from the latter, spacing members, and means operated by theprinting member for operating said spacing members toso position thearticles to be marked on the belt that they reach the printing member ata predetermined period of its revolution.

3. A machine of the Vcharacter described,V comprising a frame, drumsrotatably kmounted on said frame, a feed belt carried bysaid drums, ahopper mounted on the frame for feeding the letters onto the feed belt,two 130 rollers rotatably mounted in the frame above the feed belt, oneof the rollers carrying a printing member l, an endless beltcarried bysaid rollers, the lower run of said belt extending parallel to the feedbelt, means for projecting one of said rollers downward toward the feedbelt, means for projecting the feed belt upward toward said endlessbelt, and means for controlling the feeding of the article to be markedonto the feed belt operated by the roller carrying the printing member.

4. In a machine of the character described for marking articles, a feedbelt, a printing member rotatably mounted above said feed belt, anendless belt for operating the printing member and driven by engagementwith the first endless belt, a hopper' for feeding the articles to bemarked onto the feed belt, a plurality of loosely mounted spacingmembers, and means for operating said spacing members from the printingmember to space and position the articles to be marked on the feed beltso that each article reaches the printing member at a' prcdeterminedinstant during its revolution.

5. In a stamp canceling machine of the character described including afeed belt and a printing member, means for controlling the feeding ofthe letters comprising a plurality of depending spacing knives looselymounted on a horizontal bar, said horizontal bar being carried by twoarms fixed to a horizontal shaft, and means interposed between thehorizontal shaft and the printing member for operating the former fromthe latter to operate the spacing knives to position and space theletters on the feed belt so that they reach the printing member at apredetermined time during its revolution.

6. In a stamp cancelling machine, a feed belt, a printing member abovethe belt, an adjustable rockable arm, a plurality of depending andloosely mounted spacing members carried by said arm and means foroperating the said arm from the printing member' to raise and lower saidspacing members to space and position the letters on the belt.

7. In a stamp cancelling machine, a feed belt, a revoluble printingroller above the belt and having anarm on its shaft, a rockable shaftabove the beltV at a distance from the said roller and carrying a rigidarm and loosely suspended members, spacing members loosely mounted onthe said arm, a f

rod pivoted to the arm of the printing roller and to the members of theshaft, and a pawl and dog mechanism between the rod and said shaft.

8. In a stamp cancelling machine, an endless feed belt, rollers mountedabove the feed belt, one of the rollers carrying a printing member, anendless belt passing around said rollers, and in engagement with thefirst belt and operated thereby, reciprocating spacing members, andmeans for operating thle1 spacing members from the printing ro er.

OSCAR DELLMONT WILLIS.

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